Hey I'm not saying the South doesn't have economic issues, my point was that I think you're overstating it a bit.

Per Capita isn't necessarily more revealing than general GDP in my opinion. The basic GDP is at least a real world number. Per capita GDP however is an average that supposedly represents individuals, but which is quite limited in it's ability to do so (for our purposes) because it does not factor in income distribution. In some states, including in some of those that are highest on the list of Per Capita GDP among the non-Southern states ( New York , California, District of Columbia etc.) there is a huge gap in income distribution.

Sweden has been steadily sliding though, Norway has North Sea oil and a tiny population, Australia has experienced strong growth since they opened up their markets, Canada has a small population and lots of oil that they export, Ireland is in bad shape, Liechtenstein has 36K people FFS and the US has been slipping as more and more people turn away from religion (though I'm not implying causation.)

You also left out Qatar (top 2 in GDP per capita, religious importance 94.5) and Kuwaiit (top 10 GDP per cap, religious importance 92.5%.)

Sweden has been steadily sliding though, Norway has North Sea oil and a tiny population, Australia has experienced strong growth since they opened up their markets, Canada has a small population and lots of oil that they export, Ireland is in bad shape, Liechtenstein has 36K people FFS and the US has been slipping as more and more people turn away from religion (though I'm not implying causation.)

You also left out Qatar (top 2 in GDP per capita, religious importance 94.5) and Kuwaiit (top 10 GDP per cap, religious importance 92.5%.)

Our Religious people embrace the principles of Ayn Rand's self-rational interest and Capitalism. Even those that don't quite fully understand it. They don't let the Liberal hippy stuff about Jesus get in the way of Guns, property and profits.

And I appreciate that about America. We need more individualism and less whining.

Well four of the 10 states with the highest GDP in the U.S. are in the South, so their not doing THAT bad..

I'd like to see the same figures according to religiosity of the state. The bible belt is not necessarily the same as the South and some of the Jesusland prairie states are the most religious and the poorest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1_Industrialist

It's simple. Our religious >>> other countries religious nuts.

Our Religious people embrace the principles of Ayn Rand's self-rational interest and Capitalism. Even those that don't quite fully understand it. They don't let the Liberal hippy stuff about Jesus get in the way of Guns, property and profits.

And I appreciate that about America. We need more individualism and less whining.

Babble babble babble babble. What a lot of toss.

Ultimately there is a correlation between religiosity and poverty worldwide. Nations such as Qatar and Kuwait and to a lesser extent the USA are outliers, statistical anomalies. The overall trend is that religiosity correlates with poverty and secularism correlates with wealth.

But as is mentioned you have to be careful when conflating correlation with causation. Is it secularism that creates the wealth or does wealth tend to move societies towards secularism? Noticing a pattern is great, it tells us something about the world. Finding out why the pattern exists is the bigger part of the battle.

Our Religious people embrace the principles of Ayn Rand's self-rational interest and Capitalism. Even those that don't quite fully understand it. They don't let the Liberal hippy stuff about Jesus get in the way of Guns, property and profits.

And I appreciate that about America. We need more individualism and less whining.

jesus is not liberal hippy stuff. Jesus is neo conservative, war mongering, tea bagging stuff, but dont let that utter hypocrisy get in the way of your guns and profits.

Jesus was a communist. What's written in the religious book has little to do with what people do or believe is written in their religious book. Being a Christian and looking up to Ayn Rand also don't go together...but many pull it off successfully (see Ron Paul and Paul Ryan).

Jesus was a communist. What's written in the religious book has little to do with what people do or believe is written in their religious book. Being a Christian and looking up to Ayn Rand also don't go together...but many pull it off successfully (see Ron Paul and Paul Ryan).

And I solute them for it.

yea that's why abortion and gay marriage have never been a wedge issue in the states and muslims have never killed for allah, they just want the 72 virgins....

Yeah...I don't know what that all is about. I'm more of a Fiscal/Economics/Capitalism kind of guy.

I want to cut your Medicare, cut your Social Security, lay off a lot of Govt workers and send them packing to the Private sector. But hey...at least I don't care about you having an abortion or Gay marriage or if you use drugs. Personally, all three are good as it keeps the population low. Less people, less jobs needed to make our Presidents look good on paper....I.E. the Unemployment rate.